Halloween n things....

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Its just amazing how quickly my little girls are growing. Bella knows so many words that they'd be impossible to count now. If you tell her the word for any object, she will gladly recite it as much as you want.

Although Lily knows many words also, she is definitely not the show pony! She does, however, love to give you hugs and kisses almost any time you request them.

We took the girls for their Halloween portraits again this year. Last year's Fairy Princess photos were so incredibly beautiful that I didn't think we could ever top them. Although last year's photo on the same background is still the winner, this year's Halloween photos with the girls dressed as Renaissance maidens are a runner up. Now that the girls are alert and aware of their surroundings, portraits have become a little more challenging of late.

Back to school...for all of us....

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Augie, myself and the girls and I all went back to school earlier this month. We're now all looking forward to Christmas vacation!

Bella knows every word in the dictionary now. I expect her first college enrollment packet to arrive any time now. No, really. This toddler is a talker! She "picks up" everything. I mean EVERYTHING, and in the course of 10 seconds. We have to be especially careful of our exclamations and protestations around here. She has become such a sponge for learning and information that she's almost become a couch potato these days. Her favorite show and the one she demands to watch day and night is Barney. However, as I mentioned to Augie tonight, we need a Barney budget where TV is concerned.

Lily is as sweet and happy as ever. What a good nature our little Lily girl has! Augie and I both wonder where it came from. Her effervescent smile warms your heart, especially when she feels shy when she knows you're looking. She loves to play the nurturing mommy with all her babies and their strollers. She'll even walk around the house to find shopping bags and purses and will load up her arms with baby, bags, blankets and various odds and ends before wheeling her carriages for a stroll outside. I wonder where she gets that from? She also loves to play dress up and will seek out dresses from her closet, hand them to me and shout "on". Her favorite thing is trying on the rows of mommy and daddy's shoes that are piled up at the front door.

Both girls are growing, growing, growing and I am happy to report that they were finally officially discharged from the preemie specialist's benchmark check-ups. Both girls are finally on the chart for normal height and weight (though they're both still on the small side) and they are now functioning at about a month ahead of their adjusted ages.

I can finally buy clothes in size 2t, yay! But, I have discovered that 2t is apparently the most popular children's size, boo!

Are We Toddlers Yet?

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It is unbelievable how much the girls have grown over the summer. Lily has already gone through 2 sizes of shoes and Bella has had a word explosion. Are they really toddlers now? I still think of them as the babies I brought home (though, I didn't actually bring them home since I was hospitalized for 6 weeks but the girls were only there for 4). Bella and Lily have enjoyed their summer and their new trikes but sadly, it will come to an end when I go back to work and they back to school on the 8th of September.

Bad Blogger, Good Summer...

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Its been a while since I've posted but so much has been going on that this blogger has just not had time to blog away about it. The girls are growing, growing, growing. They each have about 25 words now and are trying to do "big girl" things like eat at the dinner table in a chair- not HIGH chair. They do pretty well with it. Soon, they will be out of their cribs (I am sad to report) and into big girl beds. In fact, I have been selling just about all their baby equipment on Ebay and it is making me very sad (not to mention the very sad profits that they yield- oh well, they don't call in a recession for nothing). I have also been buying "big girl" outdoor play things for our backyard as well as Nana's.

Although we missed the Orange County Fair this year (we kept putting it off), we did get to the Ventura County Fair with Aunt Judy and Cousin Gabriel where Bella and Lily rode a pony for the first time (so much for my objection about the exploitation of animals!). Bella was at first a little hesitant about it but recovered quite nicely to enjoy the rest of what seemed like a very long pony ride. Lily took it all in stride, as usual. The girls also enjoyed riding a few rides for the first time (well, I shouldn't say "enjoyed" more like "freaked out" for most the ride). We hope to get to the LA County Fair a little later in August.At almost 20 months, the girls finally had their 18-month well-baby check-up and last vaccinations today. While during their previous visits, the girls were both pretty much off the charts in terms of being way smaller than their age group, this time the girls are on the charts. Bella is still a little small for her age and measures at about the 25th percentile in height and weight. Lily, on the other hand, is right at the 50th percentile for her weight and 25th percentile for height, like her sister. We'd better watch the ole' gal's eatin, lest she be a hefty Sue like her mama!

18 months at long last!

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The girls are officially a year and a half. They have so many new words and understand commands and sentences like "where is your bellybutton?" They are starting to love feeding themselves with a spoon. Their two favorite things to do of late are singing and pulling pair! I am exhausted!

Official Mother's Day Post...

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We had a lovely Mother's Day at Monterey of Encino, otherwise known as the Golf Course. Aunt Judy, Aunt Gloria and Nana were all recognized by the girls are the special ladies in their life. We all dined, sipped coffee and enjoyed the girls as they frolicked through the grounds of the Golf Course.

New and improved...

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Here they are. Bella, Lily and the Easter bunny...and so much better than last year!

Help...she's already sleeping around with boys...

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That Bella! I knew she was trouble. I told my mother so when she was in the womb. She was always kicking so restlessly. Well, according to her preschool teacher, Miss Shannon, Bella was found sleeping in the play tent with Simon! When I told her father, Augie replied "who is this Simon, do I know him?" No, daddy, you don't. Bella never gave an introduction. And if that's not bad, all day long, we catch Bella chatting away on OUR cell phones. She loves to pick the phones up and talk, talk, talk. That girl!

The Official Easter Post and more news...

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The trip to San Jose/San Francisco was a success. Lily and Bella honed in on their walking skills. They loved having adjoining hotel rooms with my parents. It gave them reason and opportunity to walk to and fro and to and fro and to and fro. The girls were able to visit with both their grandpas since my father (and my mother) accompanied us to Cupertino to meet Augie's family for the first time. The girls also enjoyed their Uncle Leonard, honorary Aunt Katrina, oldest cousin Lenny and youngest cousin, Jacob, and all Jacob's neat toys. Jake even (rather unwillingly) donated a toy to his twin cousins. We didn't really take the girls too far into "the City" but Augie and the girls and I did see the famous Japanese Tea Gardens and Golden Gate Park, although having the girls walking now, even with the leashes, was tiresome and difficult, especially to photograph. We finally just gave up and put the girls back in their strollers to take pictures. We did get a lovely picture of a couple getting married, however.

My two little bunnies have been growing, changing and developing so many new skills. Their vocabulary is also growing. Both the girls can say (or sound like they are saying) daddy, mama, duck, block, ball, hi, kitty, thank you, uh-oh and many others that we haven't quite figured out yet. Lily is constantly mumbling something that sounds like "hiya" but we haven't figured out what that means to her, yet. Both of them know the word "no" but pretend like they don't. They both love to laugh at you when you look stern. Lucky us! They seem to understand far more than they can say and that we really know. Bella especially likes to find things that she can hand to you so that she can say "thank you". Lily loves to drop things on the floor so that she can say "uh-oh" (actually, she'll say uh-oh first and then the object falls to the floor- it just about drove us nuts on our trip). They both love to dance when you put music on and they both love to hum and sing along with you. Both girls also love to put things in baskets and boxes and I have even seen both of them put the correct shapes in the correct shape holes. Now that Bella is an expert walker, she loves to walk her walker/ride-on toy all around the backyard and she can maneuver it to go where she wants. When she reaches the end of the yard, she steps to the back of the toy and starts all over again in the opposite direction. Climbing is Bella's new favorite sport and she has all the bumps and bruises to show for it. Lily especially likes to draw when she is not eating the writing utensil (her molars are finally coming in months after her sisters'). And, the biggest achievement yet- they can both now drink from a straw- yay!

When we arrived home from the Bay Area, we decided to meet Big Bunny at the LA Zoo with Aunt Judy and Cousin Gabriel. We had a blast but, wouldn't you know it, I forgot my camera. The only pictures I took were using my cell phone camera. What was I thinking? We did get a picture with Big Bunny but, frankly, the quality wasn't that great. The Sear's pictures with the Easter Bunny turned out much better but I have to wait until the 22nd to receive it, go figure! I'll post it when it comes.

The next day, Easter finally came. We were all so tired out from our trip up north and from the zoo that neither Augie nor I had enough energy to dress the girls in their pretty Easter dresses. In fact, Augie spent most of the morning building the new propane BBQ and could hardly enjoy the food that was cooked on it later that day. We each grabbed the nearest outfits for the girls that we could find (which turned out to be the remarkably unsoiled clothes worn at the zoo the day before) and invited the families to our house for a BBQ and Easter egg hunt. Luckily, cousin Gabriel had colored Easter eggs for the whole family the night before. Although Bella fell and hit her head twice on the brick steps, we all had a great time and my older brother got some fantastic photos of the festivities.

Later, my mother bathed the girls and dressed them in 3-6 month-sized sleepers (ok, I am busted, I was just too exhausted to do any laundry). Can you believe we can still get our 15 month olds in those? Ok, they were squeezed in them from top to toe!